"The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask/A Link to the Past- Legendary Edition" by Akira Himekawa

               This is a review of the Manga “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask/A Link to the Past- Legendary Edition” by Akira Himekawa and not a review of “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask” and “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” video games.

            In “Majora’s Mask” there is what appears to be a man (but it’s possibly he may be either a demon or god) called the Happy Mask Salesman, who travels around selling masks. He possesses a mask named Majora’s Mask that is considered to be a “Demon Mask” that will grant the wearer’s wishes, one he will absolutely refuse to sell, and yet dangerously (and stupidly) carries with him. A creature called Skull Kid wants a special mask and fancies Majora’s Mask. The Happy Mask Salesman, true to form, will not part with it. Skull Kid, in a rage, attacks the Happy Mask Salesman and then steals Majora’s Mask and immediately puts it on and becomes possessed by the mask.

            Meanwhile, a boy named Link is missing his best friend, a fairy named Navi who inexplicably has gone missing, and so Link starts a quest to find her. Link is traveling with his horse Epona. His search takes him to a dark forest, and leads him to the Skull Kid. A Skull Kid is, by nature, a mischievous creature who loves to play tricks. Skull Kid is traveling with the two sister and brother fairies Tatl and Tael (yeah, a lame pun). Link possesses a magical item called the Ocarina of Time which (obviously) can effect time. Link also carries a sword and shield. These items are items Link has obtained over the course of his adventures. Skull Kid gets angry at Link and plays a trick on Link, transforming him into another creature called a Deku Scrub, which robs him of his sword and shield. On top of that, Skull Kid also steals the Ocarina of Time and rides off with Epona.

            Link finds he is no longer in his home world of Hyrule, but now in a world called Termina. There are people which look exactly like people Link has met in his adventures in Hyrule and yet are not, which suggests Termina is an alternate reality world of Hyrule. Link, now being a Deku Scrub, is not taken seriously by anyone. On top of that, the moon has a face, which is very furious-looking, and also is very low down in the sky, which, this being a new world, throws Link off a bit. He also realizes Tatl has been left behind, and now wishes to reunite with her brother, so joins Link on his travels.

            Link’s first stop in Termina is Clock Town, obviously named due to its central clock. The folks are preparing for the Festival of Time, obviously not put off by the moon. Link arrives at the Central Clock to confront Skull Kid. Link sees the moon about to impact with Clock Town. He is able to reobtain the Ocarina of Time. Tael goes into a trance and says “Bring four people… one each from the swamp, mountain, sea and valley.” Link is able to hold off Skull Kid and reobtain the Ocarina of Time, just as the moon impacts into Clock Town. He then plays the Ocarina of Time, and time goes backwards, and he is again in the Central Clock, still with Tatl, and now no longer a Deku Scrub. He is now Hylian again, but is left with the Deku Mask. He now is also three days in the past. The Happy Mask Salesman is there, and tells Link the threat of Majora’s Mask. Link then leaves Clock Town to travel to the swamp and seek out the “person.” He goes on his journey to find these “people,” defeat Skull Kid, save Termina from certain destruction, and find a way to return to Hyrule to continue his quest to find Navi.

            Then, in “A Link to the Past,” a boy named Link lives with his Uncle. Link’s parents were Hylian heroes and mysteriously disappeared. Link is raised as an apple farmer. Link receives a telepathic message from Princess Zelda one night. She is being imprisoned by the evil wizard Agahnim and being prepared for a sacrifice. She is the descendant of one of the Seven Sages, who long ago sealed the evil Ganondorf in the Dark World. To free Ganondorf, Agahnim must sacrifice all descendants of the Seven Sages. Link is forced to watch Agahnim slay his Uncle. Link is able to temporarily free Princess Zelda, who tells Link the Legend of the Triforce. This was a relic that was left behind by the Goddesses of Wisdom, Power, and Courage. The Triforce will grant the first wish of any person who touches it. There is another relic called the Master Sword which is able to destroy evil, namely Agahnim. Zelda gives Link the Pendant of Courage and tell him he must obtain the Pendant of Wisdom and the Pendant of Power, which will lead him to the Master Sword and give Link the tool he needs to defeat Agahnim. Upon the completion of the Legend, Zelda (like any good princess) is caught by Agahnim and sent to the Dark World. Obviously, Link sets off the find the Pendant of Wisdom of Power, the Pendant of Power, and the Master Sword, defeat Agahnim and Ganondorf, who is now in the Dark World called Ganon.

            Along on the quest, Link meets Ghanti, a bandit with a grudge against Link’s ancestors and a desire to obtain the Triforce. She is not shy about her convictions, but agrees to travel with Link to aid him on his quest.

            Obviously to go any further will spoil the stories, so now I’ll give you my thoughts of the Manga. First off, these stories should not have been combined. They are in completely different realities and have nothing to do with each other. “Majora’s Mask” is actually a direct continuation of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” so for accessibility, if you wish to read “Majora’s Mask” I would highly recommend reading the “Ocarina of Time” Manga first, but if you don’t want to read “Ocarina of Time” you should be able to pick up on “Majora’s Mask” with slight difficulty. If you are interested, I have also written a review of “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time- Legendary Edition” on this blog, so feel free to check that out as well.

            I must give a warning. While a Manga is a Japanese comic book, readers of other comic books must be informed the book is read from right to left. What most people would consider to be the back cover, to a Manga it’s actually the front cover, and the panels are read from the right side page from back of the page to the front. And Manga’s are traditionally black and white. If you’re used to comic books and never read a Manga before, it will take some practice to read properly. I had to work on it being a huge Marvel comics fan.

“Majora’s Mask” was originally a video game as well, and the Manga was, in my opinion, an insult to the game. I played the game when I was in middle school and loved it. This just does not live up to its namesake. The whole point of the video game was to continuously relive the three days until all four of the “People” were able to be found, as well as to collect masks from all different people and learn their stories along the way, then play the Ocarina of Time before impact to reset the three days. In the Manga, Link played the Ocarina of Time once and amassed masks only from the indigenous peoples of Termina. The whole fun of the game was to collect the masks and in the ending cut scenes you saw a clip of all the people you obtain their masks from and see their stories of what they did at the Festival of Time after Link’s success. This was such a letdown as the Manga involved very few of the people Link helps along the way. The Manga also felt very rushed. I feel that a longer Manga would have been a better way to tell the story. So you’re probably wondering how I would rate this. I always go on a scale of one to ten, one being a Godawful piece of trash that should never have been written, ten being so oh my God awesome that I’ll talk about it incessantly for six months to anyone I see even complete strangers on the street, I rate it at a three.

Moving off to “A Link to the Past.” Okay, I also played this game in elementary school and absolutely loved it. In fact, Game Informer Magazine gave a list of the three-hundred best video games at the time of publication and was named number one. The game was amazing, and my friends in elementary school and I had many conversations about the game. This Manga was, again, not the game. It was, in my opinion, complete trash. This story also felt rushed. Ghanti was a character made up just for the Manga. In fact, a lot of characters in the Manga were not in the game. The fill-in points of the story to give a narrative in-between the points of the game with no dialogue was just awful. Too much of a new Manga narrative mutilated the narrative of the game. My score on this is a two. Let’s quickly go to my accessibility rating. All that said, you don’t need to know anything about “The Legend of Zelda” to follow this Manga, but if you played the game and loved it, I strongly suggest you do not read this Manga.

So, on the book as a totality; it was a total fail. To combine the stories into one rating, this book gets a two. My regular readers know I’m very fair at reviews and very receptive to stories and very easy to please. So if I rate something as low as this, you know it must be godawful. In other words, I suggest you don’t read this. Keep away! But if you still do read this Manga and liked it, you totally need to get in touch with me so we can get a discussion going because I really want to know what you thought was good about it.

And that’s all for now. Expect plenty more reviews in the near future, so hopefully you keep reading my blog and feel free to share my blog site with your friends as I’m always hoping for new readers, and if you want, please comment. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!